The Thief's Confession
by Storm Reaper VII
Summary: Written because there aren't nearly enough stories of this couple. During Sojiro's tenth rank, Joker realizes that it's time that he comes clean about his relationship with his guardian's daughter. One-shot.


"I wonder if someday she'll go out to be someone's bride."

Suddenly the feeling of melancholy that I'd been feeling during our trip to the church slowly started to vanish. Any warmth I'd been feeling as Sojiro had opened up about his past with Wakaba grew cold, as did my brow. I was probably looking as calm and collected as usual on the outside, but on the inside my mind was in a panic, traveling fast and showing no signs of stopping.

"I'm sure that she'll make a fine lady either way," Sojiro continued, his attention directed towards his adopted daughter and the reason for my panic; Futaba Sakura. "After all, she's Wakaba's daughter."

Honestly I didn't know anything about this Wakaba person, only roughly seeing what she looked like while I was in Futaba's palace during the summer. Sojiro only had the best to say about this woman as he thought back on her while Futaba… well it was complicated, but she misses her mother and still loves her as much as anyone would in her shoes. My thoughts on this are interrupted as Sojiro sighs.

"Do all fathers have to go through this anxiety?"

 _You're_ anxious? How do you think I feel right now? Calling Futaba someone's bride out of the blue like that is… off-putting is mild way to consider it. Especially considering how close I've gotten with her. I've also been close with all of my friends in the Phantom Thieves, but something about Futaba… she's always been special to me.

"You know, I really just wanted you to help out at the store," Sojiro says, bringing me back to reality as he seems to reminisce about our time together at Cafe Leblanc with a soft smile. "But you showed me so much more… You showed me I have a family I need to protect; not just Futaba but you too."

This was the kind of connection Sojiro had formed over the time I'd been living at his cafe. First it was disgruntled room provider and delinquent, then it was master and apprentice over coffee and curry, then after that we'd slowly started to count on each other more and more… it might've been because of our bond that he didn't blow up at me when he learned I was a member of that Phantom Thieves and had been targeting Futaba's heart (she'd asked in the first place, so it wasn't all on me).

"I may not always be reliable, but feel free to come to me if anything happens. I'll be there for you… as family." It's moments like this where I can't help but smile. Futaba was right; Sojiro really is a softy underneath it all. "And… Ah, I know. I'll teach you everything I can, you're a full- fledge man now. That might not be enough to return the the favor… but it's all I can do."

"...It's more than enough," I tell him, finally deciding to use my voice. We just give each other an understanding smile as I can practically feel the bond between us. This has only happened a few time before with my closest friends, not even everyone in the Phantom Thieves shares this kind of connection with me as of yet. Maybe I was worrying over nothing earlier, there's nothing to-

"Oh, and uh… could you not… you know, get with Futaba?"

…Have I not suffered enough? Is this my comeuppance for sneaking around behind his back in my Thief work? For endangering Futaba's life in our work? ...This is hitting me so hard right now. I pretend to cough into my elbow to save face. Cool exterior or not, I'm probably sweating up a storm at the request… the _late_ request.

"I can't imagine you calling me 'father'... Although, maybe it wouldn't be so bad…"

...Is he playing games now with me or something? Does he know about _us?_ Not many people know about the relationship Futaba and I are in, but Sojiro's can be pretty damn observant when he wants to be. I can't tell if he approves or disapproves right now or if he even knows for that matter. And people say _I'm_ the one with the poker face.

"What are you two talking about?" Futaba asks as she approaches us. The angel's voice sounds all the more heavenly when it's bailing me out of awkward banter like this.

"Nothing!" Sojiro and I say in unison, a bit too quickly at that.

"I hunger! Curry Time!" Futaba declears. It's times like this that I'm thankful that she can have a one-track mind towards curry (understandable since Sojiro's curry is the best I've ever had).

"Yeah, yeah…" Sojiro says with a smirk before turning to me. "Let's go home."

I nod and begin to follow the two, but I take one last look back at the church behind us. I've never met the real Wakaba and I know she's not buried in the immediate area… but I can't help but try to talk to her.

"I'll make sure she's safe…" I promise under my breath, so low that not a soul would be able to hear me… It won't matter by the end of the night though; I'm going to set the record straight.

 _Later -Cafe Leblanc-_

"Phew, that was good curry…" Futaba sighs as she rubs her still slim stomach. "I give that a 95."

"A whole five points short?" I ask her with a bit of a smirk on my face.

"I can't just go out and give you a perfect score; then you'd become conceited with your curry and you'd never improve further," Futaba teases me. "The best part at being level 95 is knowing you still have four or five levels to improve ever upwards." Ah, those charming little references.

"I think it came out well," Sojiro tells me. "Especially for a first attempt; that wasn't an easy recipe to follow. You've really been practicing your stuff."

"It helps us in the field more than you'd think," I inform him while leaning over the edge. Much work as it seems, cooking has always helped to steady my nerves and keep me calm, much like I need to be right now. I consider beginning the conversation… but I look at Futaba and decide that if this turns ugly I don't want her in the middle of it. "But… I'm going to need some more coffee to make sure I'm ready when we go after Shido's heart in a few days."

"Coffee? You know where the stuff is," Sojiro told me as he rose and stretched. I give another attempt at sending a subtle message.

"...True, but there was a blend that I tried last time that didn't come out too well. I think it was called _Civet_ coffee." It was a lie. I'd heard about this coffee type from Haru some time ago and decided to use that as my alibi. Since _Civet_ is formed as… feces, it's sort of rare to come across and it's one type of bean that Sojiro doesn't have in his shop… at least not out in the open. The cafe owner gives me a strange look before sighing.

"I told you not to touch the expensive stuff," he scolds me before turning to Futaba. "Go on ahead and head back, I'll help him out for a bit."

"Works for me," Futaba tells us with a large smile. "I've got a big surprise that I'm working on anyways! Laters!"

With her gone, Sojiro starts helping me prepare the coffee. It doesn't take long before he's sure that Futaba's gone and we can begin our talk.

"So… what's this really about?" he asks me, his eyes forming just the slightest of scowls.

"It's about Futaba," I begin, taking a deep breath. Instead of holding out, I decide to just go for it. "We've been dating."

Sojiro doesn't make a move at me. Without so much as a skipped beat in his work, he continues to brew coffee like the master he is. I'm not sure what I was expecting; not as severe as a punch to face, but I'm not exactly expecting him to be smiling like an idiot at the news.

"I see," he tells me. He's not angry, but he's not exactly happy either. "So my comment at the church...?"

"Made me think it was time I was sure you knew," I admit to him. "Did you ever know about us?"

"Not exactly; I'm just always seeing you spending time with plenty of women so I figured you'd start going steady with one of them eventually if you hadn't already. I just didn't know who." Reasonable assumption. He then looks at me more seriously. "Did it happen before your arrest?"

"Yeah, but just a week or two prior," I tell him. That was a stressful time for all of us, myself especially with all of the interrogation I'd had to undergo the drugs I'd been given. I still have nightmares about it to this day. "We both knew what this plan would mean for me, so I doubt she was too worried."

"It was still a risk, a pretty damn big one," Sojiro reminds me with a slight glare. "...Why'd you choose her then?"

"Think it's weird?" I have to ask. Even if Futaba isn't that much younger than I am, she is a good deal smaller. So much so that I can lift her up with a single arm and keep her up without exerting much force (even without equpping my max STR Yoshitune persona)

"No, just was wondering."

"...It was a lot of things; her social awkwardness, her drive to find her mom's killers, her talent, her endless quirky references." I've praised Futaba as much to her face when it's just the two of us, but this is the first time I'm being so open about it to anyone else. "But her smile… that had to be what sealed it."

"You thought she had a cute smile?" he asks with an eyebrow raised.

"...It's more than that, a lot more. Spending time with her was always an adventure, but her smile at the end of each just felt… so full of happiness. And it wasn't rare either, she always had this sense of excitement with her whenever we were in public seeing things that she'd never thought to look at before… When we were completing her list, the best part was always seeing that smile when we could check off each task."

"Tch, you're a fool for romance aren't you?" Sojiro mutters. I can't tell if he's disappointed in me or not. "I… I… guess I can be alright with it."

"You guess?" I asking as I finish brewing my coffee and begin to slowly pour it into one of Sojiro's cups.

"Futaba's a free spirit and she's likely to get her way. And I can't fault you… it's thanks to you and your friends that Futaba's begun speaking at all... She's even been telling me how excited she is about attending High School next year and I never thought she'd ever be happy at the idea of heading back to school." Sojiro then scowls at me. "But I'm still her father. If you break her heart there'll be serious hell to pay."

"And that's a mistake I don't plan on making," I promise as I finish pouring my coffee. He's finished as well, but instead of drinking his own coffee he surprises me and takes my prepared cup.

"...You've really come a long ways," he mutters before taking a long sip.

"...Not just me," I say as I in turn take his cup and enjoy a small sip of its flavor; smooth and flawless as ever but with a new underlying warmth. "All three of us…"

 _Later_

Sojiro didn't talk at all after that; we just focused on cleaning up the kitchen so that it would be ready for the next morning when he opened up shop. It had been a long day and I was feeling like I needed one of Kawakami's messages just to get all of the aching out of my muscles. As I headed up to bed, I noticed that my cat/teammate Morgana wasn't around probably on one of his late night strolls. Grabbing my cell phone, I open our previous conversation and begin to text Futaba.

 _Me: Sojiro's on his way back._

 _Futaba: That took a while, make our "coffee?"_

Futaba's not stupid, she knew something was up with us… that or…

 _Me: Did you spy on us?_

 _Futaba: Nah, not when it's something this serious; I left my cameras off for a bit. So what did you talk about?_

 _Me: I let him know about us._

 _Futaba: And you went in alone? You must either have a grade 10 Courage or a grade 1 in Smarts._

 _Me: He might've been nicer with you there, but this is something we had to do man to man._

 _Futaba: And?_

 _Me: He's okay with it, us I mean. He's as protective of you as ever, but he's made it clear that if I break your heart..._

 _Futaba: Then the 'Coffee Devil' awakens! BOW BEFORE HIS CAFFEINATED WRATH!_

I can't help but laugh at her comment. It's exactly this kind of quirky behavior that makes me glad to have met Futaba Sakura.

 _Futaba: Hey… once we go out and clear your name… you're still going to have to move away someday aren't you?_

That's a downer of a message to bring up, but it's a right one. I'm only here with Sojiro until my probation expires (though with me officially being a dead man, how this works out from here is a mystery). This was never going to be a permanent fix… but still.

 _Me: I doesn't matter to me in the slightest._

 _Futaba: Joker?_

 _Me: I'll find a way to keep in touch with you, we'll still have our phones. And we'll always have holidays to travel. I'll find a way to make this work, I promise._

 _Futaba: ...I love you, you know that right?_

 _Me: Love you more._

 _Futaba: Impossible buster, my love stat for you is totally maxed out._

 _Me: Can it be at level 95? I want to see what level 100 is like._

 _Futaba: Oh you!_

I'm giving a ridiculous smile at our banter, maybe I never had anything to worry about in the first place.

 _Ann: Oh the two of you are just the cutest!_

Damn right we are Ann… Wait, ANN!?

 _Ryuji: Don't blow your cover you idiot! Seriously._

 _Ryuji: Damn! Didn't mean to text that! Not here!_

Ryuji too!? How's he reading this!?

 _Makoto: You two were actually watching their message and spying on them, honestly…_

That's when it hit me, I opened up the wrong conversation with Futaba… this was our _Group_ chat. Meaning everyone in the Phantom Thieves…

 _Yusuke: This might make for good inspiration for one of my paintings… Though Joker, if you could try and straighten out Futaba I would be in your debt._

 _Futaba: SHUT IT INARI!_

 _Haru: I'm… sorry for spying on you, but I hope you both only the best in your future together!_

 _Futaba: Joker you dummy!_

I can't help but feel I've just lost major points with her… but I also can't help but laugh as I switch over to a new conversation.

 _Me: Sorry about that._

 _Futaba: It's not like they didn't know… Just be more careful, okay?_

 _Me: I promise… see you in the morning; we've got a busy day ahead of us._

 _Futaba: See you then… and I still love you._

 _Me: I love you too._

I finally close my phone and lay my head back on its pillow. As I do so, that's when Morgana came back into my room through the window.

"You seem to be in a good mood," he notes as he sees my smile which hasn't left my face. "Did something good happen?"

"...Yeah," I tell him as I thought back to a few nights ago, looking at the sofa in my room where Futaba and I had spent our time playing video games and cuddling. "It definitely did…"


End file.
